Multiple outlet ice cream dispenser



June 12, 1956 S. OVERLAND MULTIPLE OUTLET ICE CREAM DISPENSER Filed Feb. 18, 1953 United States Patent MULTIPLE OUTLET ICE CREAM DISPENSER Stanley Overland, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application February 18, 1953, Serial No. 337,606

3 Claims. (Cl. 222-482) This invention relates to a device having a plurality of outlet tubes joined to a common header, and more particularly to such a device used in the dairy industry to filla plurality of parallel disposed cartons with an equal volume of flowable material in a given time.

In the packaging of ice cream and similar dairy products having a plastic consistency, it is a practice to supply a plurality of outlet tubes from a common horizontal cylindrical header having a centrally disposed inlet opening opposite said outlet tubes. The primary disadvantage of such a device is that the exterior outlet tubes disposed at the ends of the main header to which the plurality of tubes are secured have a greater volume flow per unit of time than the tubes disposed interiorly, although the crosssectional area of the openings of all the outlet tubes are equal.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device having a plurality of outlet tubes, said outlet tubes having an equivalent flow of material in all of its outlets.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device of simple construction adapted to be readily disassembled and cleaned.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a device wherein the area of the openings of the exterior outlets may be increased or decreased to increase or decrease the volume of flow therein.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following descriptive disclosure taken in conjunction with the drawing, in which,

Fig. l is a perspective view of the apparatus of this invention disposed over an ice cream'carton having a plurality of cells therein,

Fig. 2 is a top view,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the means for adjusting the area of the openings over the exterior outlet tubes and is taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig, l a cylindrical header 1, preferably horizontally disposed, is provided with a plurality of outlet tubes 2 disposed in the underside of said header 1 in spaced-apart relation. An inlet horn 3 is integrally secured to the header 1 over said outlet tubes 2 with the horn inlet pipe 4 being disposed substantially in the center of the distance between the exterior outlets. As can be seen from Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the horn and the outlet pipes are disposed in vertical linear relationship so that ice cream being introduced through opening 4 is made to flow substantially in equal volume through each of the outlet tubes 2. It has been found that the exterior tubes on the header 1 have a greater rate of flow than do those tubes interiorly disposed thereof although the openings of all of the outlet tubes are of equal area. In order to adjust the flow in the exterior outlet tubes 2 to be equal to that of the other and interiorly disposed outlet tubes, the tubular extremities of the header 1 are provided with removable pistons 5 which are insertable into the header extremities.

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The removable pistons 5 consist of a finger bar 6 secured to a screw threaded shaft or rod 7 and is fixed to a piston disc 8. Said screw threaded shaft 7 is disposed in a tube 9 interiorly provided with screw threads adapted to receive shaft 7. The tube 9 is provided with a threaded portion 10 and a non-threaded portion 11. A locking disc 12 is mounted on the screw threaded portion 10 of tube 9 and is adapted to be screwed in locking relationship with header 1.

A rubber compressible cylinder 13 is disposed between circular discs 14 and 15 and is adapted to be compressed between said discs 14 and 15 so as to increase its diameter and thereby exert pressure against the interior wall of the header 1 to efiect a frictional engagement between rubber compressible cylinder 13 and the interior of header 1. The compression of rubber cylinder 13 is effected by rotating locking disc 12 in a manner to force the disc inwardly against disc 14.

After the rubber cylinder 13 has been securely locked in the extremity of the header 1, the piston disc 8 may be moved into or out of the header 1 over the opening of an adjacent orifice of an exterior outlet 2. This movement of piston disc 8 is veffected by rotation of the finger grasp 6 whereby rotation in one direction forces the piston disc 8 to be moved over the outlet opening of an exteriorly disposed outlet pipe 2 and rotation of the finger bar 6 in an opposite direction causes an oppositely disposed movement of piston disc 8.

The apparatus of this invention is used with a continuous freezer to effect equal simultaneous flow from all outlets and particularly to effect an equal fiow from the two exteriorly disposed outlets located on header 1, the finger bars 6 disposed in each of the removable pistons 5 are rotated to the right or to the left as the case may be in order to effect the desired even flow in the two exteriorly disposed outlet tubes. Clearly rotation of the finger bars 6 causes the piston disc 8 to move inwardly or outwardly since piston disc 8 is permanently fixed to the end of screw threaded rod 7, said screw threaded rod 7 being disposed in tube 9, which tube 9 is securely held in place at the extremity of the header 1 through the expansive action of rubber cylinder 13.

As shown in Fig. l the ice cream cartons are provided with a number of cells equal to the number of outlet openings on the header 1. These cartons are continuously passed under the outlet opening of a continuous freezer in timed relationship so that the volume of ice cream emerging from the outlet tubes 2 just fill the cells of the ice cream package during the time of passage of the ice cream carton under the outlet tubes.

By means of the invention the diflicult problem in the simultaneous filling of a plurality of cavities, as for example, cardboard boxes, with ice cream and allied mix has been overcome. Invariably the outermost outlet tubes will have a feed ratio different than that of the tubes disposed interiorly, the flow being greater at the outermost tubes. It therefore has been proposed to make the outer tubes, at their inlets, of lesser diameter than the intermediate tubes. This however'aggravates the problem and does not cure it, for the reason that an adjustment must be had relative to changes in the viscosity of the mix and even in changes of room temperature, since the absorption of heat by the walls of the dispensing unit apply a greater heat by conduction to the outer tubes than to the intermediate tubes. By watching the flow of the mix through the tubes and simultaneously adjusting the pistons 8, exact uniformity of flow from the outlets can be secured.

While this invention has been described by means of an illustrative embodiment, other obvious embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the descriptive disclosure, but these embodiments are deemed to be a part of this invention and are intended to be covered by the claims appearing herein.

Having described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A multi-outlet fluid .dispenser adapted for use with a continuous freezer and for uniform flow of fluid in each outlet comprising a cylindrical header having an inlet horn opening and a plurality of spaced-apart linearly disposed outlet openings opposed to said inlet opening, and a removably secured piston end closure comprising a compressible cylinder disposed between two fixed discs, a partially exteriorly threaded tube having an exterior smooth wall portion engaging said fixed discs and said compressible cylinder and being interiorly threaded throughout its tube length, a locking disc having a threaded aperture therethrough engaging the exterior threaded portion of said tube to compress said compressible cylinder to effect frictional locking engagement of said cylinder with the interior wall of said cylindrical header, and means having a piston disc secured thereto disposed in said header and movable over the opening of an adjacent exterior outlet opening in said header.

2. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the means having a piston disc secured thereto is a threaded rod having the piston disc secured to the interior end thereto, said threaded rod being interiorly disposed in said partially exteriorly threaded tube and protruding exteriorly thereof, and finger grasp means engaging said protruding rod for rotating said threaded rod and its piston disc into the cylindrical header.

3. A removable end closure for a cylindrical header comprising a compressible cylinder having a center bore hole and disposed between two fixed discs, a partially exteriorly threaded tube having an exterior smooth wall portion adapted to engage said discs and said bore hole of said compressible cylinder and being interiorly threaded throughout its tube length, a locking disc having a threaded aperture therethrough engaging the exterior threaded portion of said tube to compress said compressible cylinder to effect frictional locking engagement of said cylinder with the interior wall of said header, a threaded rod having a piston disc secured to the interior end thereof interiorly disposed in said partially exteriorly threaded tube and protruding exteriorly thereof, and finger means engaging said protruding rod for rotating said threaded rod and said piston disc into said cylindrical header.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 950,161 Scutt Feb. 22, 1910 1,587,830 Heine June 8, 1926 2,456,687 Dominguez A Dec. 21, 1948 2,510,576 Herbold June 6, 1950 2,514,030 Coyle et al July 4, 1950 2,589,589 Woodrufit' Mar. 18, 1952 2,650,551 Eckels et al. Sept, 1, 1953 

